• There’s not much we can glean from exhibition basketball. The lineups throughout the course of the game are like those David statue fridge magnets that you can dress with atrociously assembled outfits –Dickau, Korolev, Thornton, Powell, Davis at one point during the second quarter.

• Stats that jump off the box score:

Guillermo Diaz: 7-9 FG in 18 minutes. Ballhog…but tonight he made it work. He likes that little VladRad spot at the right garden along the arc.

• The Clippers, in their first offensive set of the scheduled season, go into Ruben Patterson in the post, where he hits a left-handed hook. I don’t think the Clips can expect much from Patterson in the halfcourt, though he’ll pick up his share of garbage off the offensive glass.

• The Clippers seem to run a fair amount. Absent Brand, and with Kaman, Mobley, and Cassell [for the most part] sitting, that’s no surprise. They also pressured the ball a great deal, and that’s encouraging.

• The Clips’ bread-and-butter this season, demonstrated tonight, will be Maggette in transition to the hoop. If that strategy is going to be successful, Corey has to get it going from beyond eighteen feet.

• One of the primary concerns headed into the season is that the Clippers, one of the better rebounding teams over the past few seasons, are going to get killed on the boards. We can already concede that the team’s prowess on the offensive glass is neutralized by Brand’s absence. But if the Clippers don’t want to lose 55 games, they have to overcome the fact that Tim Thomas is their power forward. Maggette’s a plus rebounder at the 3, and Kaman can work the glass, but the guards aren’t going to give the Clips much and, needless to say, Thomas is worthless in the defensive rebounding column. Naturally tonight TT goes out and secures seven rebounds in 27 minutes. He needs to be this active in the regular season.

• Was that a Stacey Augmon sighting? Was Moses Scurry in the building?

Posted Wednesday, October 29 at 3:20PM

Good news!

We have launched a new ClipperBlog.com site! You are currently on our old system & are viewing an archived page. We will continue to keep all 670 posts from our first 3 years on this archive site. Soon we will be closing the comments for each of these older posts.

The roster in and of itself may not be that bad, especially given the very unfortunate injuries to EB and Shaun.

Too bad we'll never know for sure as I think most of us agree that MD will asuredly find a way to screw it up, he always does.

I think the Clips are begging to win 30 games this year given the fact that pretty much everyone else has improved, the Clips are banged up, and MD seems to find ways to lose games with the best of them.

BTW, Sam is already lobbying to get out of town. Don't think he saw himself playing his last year for a team destined for the lottery.

If we look at the team now, we're looking at 30wins give or take. If we get back SL and EB in March, as long as the team is within a few games of .500, with the motivation and spark from those 2 I think we can actually pull out some more games, possibly a 8th seed race.

Cassell, in the final year of his contract, said he wants to sign with the Nuggets in the offseason as a free agent and play one more season. He wants to learn the coaching ropes from Karl, his former coach in Milwaukee.

Let's hope Kaman can pull it together. The orginization did make that giant commitment to him and all, so we'd like to see it.

Perhaps a running and jumping Kaman on the break with the Clips new uptempo style, this is sorta intriguing. As strange as it sounds, this may work..either that or it's gonna be the calamity of calamities. Either way, am intrigued.

Come on fans, these are just practise games. What is exciting to see is Al Thorton score 18pts and 10rebounds. That's great!!!! There's a total of 8 pre-season games, let's keep a close eye on the 6th game, because that line up will probably be the one that we are going to see for the start of the season. Mark my words "THE CLIPPERS ARE GOING TO BE OK"

And about Cassell, next year the Clippers were not going to need him anyway. That's the reason that they gave him a two year extension. Sam, has been great for us but he is not the future. We need youngblood in this team. I hope that Livingston is going to be healthy to take over the point guard operation.

Todd, you have some serious issues. Omens!!! Don't tell me that you also sleep with the lights on. Bro, I hate to break this to you but Jason & Freddy are movie characters!!! This is a basketball blog and the phrase point guard is a common one!! So why don't you start getting used to it!!!:)

Honestly, none of these guys..Aaron Williams, Dan Dickau, Paul Davis, Korolev are worth discussing. They all stink. It's sorta like debating who was the most meaningless member of the Jackson 5 or the Spice Girls. It doesn't matter and NOBODY cares.

Wake me up when the Clips fire Dunleavy and Baylor and want to become relevant again.

Backup point guards impress Dunleavy
By Jonathan Abrams, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 11, 2007
PORTLAND -- Slowly, as the Clippers' exhibition season barrels on, position battles are developing.

Clippers Coach Mike Dunleavy said he will use a revolving-door substitution pattern, but that won't be much solace to players seeking minutes at the bottom of that rotation.

One of the most intriguing battles is at backup point guard, which may turn into an integral spot if starter Sam Cassell sustains lingering injuries as he did last season.

When the Clippers signed free agent Brevin Knight, it was assumed he would take on the primary back-up role as Shaun Livingston rehabilitates from a serious knee injury.

But toward the beginning of training camp, the Clippers added Dan Dickau, another veteran point guard who was waived by the New York Knicks.

Both have impressed Dunleavy.

"The bottom line is what I'm looking for is that they can both play and so far, they haven't hurt that thought at all," Dunleavy said.

Dickau, a six-year veteran, had a breakout season in 2004-05 with the New Orleans Hornets, when he averaged 13.2 points and 5.2 assists a game. But he ruptured his Achilles' heel playing for the Boston Celtics the next season.

"I always look at every opportunity as a chance to be myself and earn minutes," Dickau said Wednesday night before playing in front of about 25 family members and friends in his hometown of Portland, where the Clippers lost, 111-102, to the Trail Blazers.

Knight has averaged 8.3 assists a game in 10 NBA seasons. He has had a career-high 20 assists twice.

"I'm always going to have to compete," Knight said. "Every year it's been like that. It's part of my nature."

Dickau is the better perimeter shooter, but Knight has superior court vision and quicker feet on defense.

It's anyone's guess which will receive the nod during Cassell's first rest of 2007-08. "I don't know if I'll know that even when the season starts," Dunleavy said.

Rookie forward Al Thornton called his first NBA action Tuesday against the Denver Nuggets "kind of shaky."

"The altitude got to me a little," said Thornton, who played a team-high 34 minutes and finished with nine points on four-of-13 shooting.

"But it's the first game, so I was kind of nervous."

He had 18 points and 10 rebounds against Portland.

Cassell scored 21 points, 16 coming in the first quarter, in Wednesday's loss. He started along with Quinton Ross, Thornton, Josh Powell and Aaron Williams. Chris Kaman (tweaked lower back) set out the back-to-back exhibitions. . . . Corey Maggette (bruised left thigh) did not play.

Clipper games will be sold out if Kobe leaves the Lakers. Jack's seat will be up on ebay for $50. He's not going anywhere. I hope send him out to the east coast or something. Dunno if I want the nanny raper and kobe both on the same team.

There's about as good of a chance of the Clips gettiing Kobe as MD growing a giant afro this year, neither was absolutely zero chance. No way Buss allows Kobe to ball at Staples, and make the Clips a contender in the process. Buss would have to leave Los Angeles, and Laker fans would probably burn Staples to the ground if that were to happen.

I must admit, still having a hard time visualizing the new aerodynamic Kaman, as has been reported. Hope his back is better by Thursday, this is something I have to see up close.

I'm confident the new and improved aerodynamic Kaman will save the day..well, we gotta hope for something but probably not am guessaing..but it should be fun to see who knows.

As for Kobe, much like Minnesota did with KG and Buss did with Shaq a few years ago, you ship the superstar to the other conference. That's where he's going if anywhere, but given Buss's recent blasts, looks like boy wonder could be shown the door as soon as Buss gets what he wants in return. We shall see if that is to ever happen.

He's gotta still be a little sore about the Shaq trade as they're STILL paying Bryant Grant's contract of $17M or so. That trade is still haunting them, so Buss has gotta be extra careful when dealing Kobe. Plus, Bynum is looking better, at least in the short term, this increases his leverage when strategizing and negotiating as well.

Who knows, if Bynum starts playing like a man, and Kobe pulls his head out of his rear, problem solved for Buss.

Just like in 2004, when Kobe kept teasing about coming to the Clips, I threatened then to burn every piece of Clipper gear I owned on the front lawn if we signed him. If Armageddon occurrs and KBitch becomes a Clipper, everything goes up in flames outside. I'll grill steak over the fire.

Like Maggette, Arenas is choosing to opt out to test the market this Summer. Therefore, the Clips would not have to give up anybody if Gilbert decided this is where he wanted to ball. It would only cost DTS some serious jack. But given the fact that MD is still running the show here, getting Gilbert is a huge longshot.

Gilbert will not be available to other teams. He is simply opting out of his current contract to get a max deal for max years which is more restricted than what he has now... Big names like Arenas don't just change teams like that, Kobe was probably as close as we see it happen when the Clippers almost picked him up from the Lakers.

The Clippers should be ok this season. I don't see them making the playoffs this year but they should be extremely solid the following season once the rookies play plenty of minutes and are mixed in with the vets. I think they have a bright future as long as no more injuries come along beyond what they have already been hit with.

Big questions await the Clippers heading into the season. Potentially bigger ones loom at its conclusion.

While the team deals with injuries to start the year, key players can become free agents at season's end.

Possibly available
Possibly available
click to enlarge
Elton Brand and Corey Maggette can opt out of their contracts, while several others, including Sam Cassell and Quinton Ross, are playing in the last year of their contracts.

The situation is similar to four summers ago when six Clippers were free agents, including Brand, Maggette, Lamar Odom and Andre Miller.

Brand signed an $82.2-million, six-year offer sheet with the Miami Heat and Maggette signed a six-year, $42-million offer sheet with the Utah Jazz, while Odom signed an offer sheet for six years and $63 million with the Heat and Miller signed one with the Denver Nuggets for six years and $51 million.

Clippers owner Donald T. Sterling matched the offer sheets only for Brand and Maggette, keeping the players and a core of the team intact.

But the Clippers don't have the luxury of first refusal this time around.

"Both players are and have been very important to our team," said Andy Roeser, team president. "It wouldn't surprise us if one or both decide to opt out. But whether or not that happens, our goal is to have them as part of our nucleus for a long time."

Brand, making $15.3 million this season, and Maggette, earning $7 million, both have player options and can become unrestricted free agents.

Of the two, Maggette will almost assuredly opt out next summer, making him free to re-sign with the Clippers or another team.

He declined a contract extension this summer when the Clippers offered a deal for three years and $25.5 million, the maximum allowable under league rules.

By waiting until after this season, Maggette will be eligible to receive a six-year deal with the Clippers or a five-year deal with another franchise.

But heading into the season, he said his focus was on basketball.

Getting a contract "is [agent] Rob Pelinka's and the management's job," Maggette said. "That will take care of itself. My job is on the court."

In Brand's case, much will depend on how he recovers from his ruptured Achilles' tendon.

The Clippers will be the only team capable of giving him a maximum, six-year deal and he stands to make $16.4 million next year if he declines to use his opt-out clause.

While point guard Shaun Livingston recovers from his left knee injury and his on-the-court activities increase, he remains under strict orders not to do any jumping. That does not include the slight elevation that Livingston makes when he practices his perimeter shooting.

However, the 22-year old just can’t resist. After most of the court had been cleared of players following Saturday’s practice, Livingston looked around to see if anyone was watching him and then ever so gently, he jumped in the air underneath the basket and dropped in a two-handed dunk.http://clippers.freedomblog...

3rd Quarter, 5:55 77-57 Suns up 20points... Clippers problem??? They still can't freakn score! All this runnin', no gunnin'! Maggette sounds like he's the same ill advised shot taking player. Its gonna be a loooooonnnngggg season for the Clipshow.

Diaz is a ball-hog. But, he did take off from 3-4 feet outside of the key and try to dunk on a phx player.

Otherwise, Kaman is skinnier and looks a bit quicker. Early in the 1st half, there was a great exchange where the clips caused 2 turnovers, Kaman stole the inbound pass and scored. But then again, he fouled out of today's preseason game.

We look like a team that has to work and scrap for every single point, possesion, and rebound.

3rd Quarter and Suns up 20 points... again its preseason, and MD was going through all of his rotations and line ups. Don't forget that the starters outplayed the suns in the first.

Maggs will have a decent year, as long as he doesn't force it too much.

Came back from the game....
Patterson just drives to hole and bulls his way to the hole.
Corey does the same but loses the ball most of the time and looks for a foul call
Kaman is quicker.
I like Diaz because he is willing shoot the ball. Well, we need all the help that we can get.
Korolev can really hold his own against the third teamer

Oct 19 - Dan Dickau brought a couple quirks with him after being acquired early in training camp. And those quirks are size 10 1/2 and 9 1/2. His left foot is one full size different than his right, and he wears two different sized shoes. Dickau didn't start wearing shoes that fit until a few years ago.

The first team was doing really good, they had a 10Pt lead against Suns starters. Kaman & Tim looked really good out there. I hope that Diaz makes the team, that guy is aggresive and we all know that we are going that with EB out. Thorton was weak, he never took the ball in and he seemed like he was overwhelmed. Cassell looked good. We'll see how they do on Sat.

you guys are idiots if you're serious about the clips making the playoffs. The consensus is that we're the 2nd or 3rd worst team in the league. (i'm just worried Eb'll come back too early and either reinjure himself or fuck up our Derrick Rose sweepstakes)